Tuesday, January 19, 2010

At the risk of becoming a social outcast, I'll admit to having never watched Mad Men. I mean, it's on the television while I'm working, and Michele seems to thoroughly enjoy it, but I just haven't gotten into it. However, when I see the sets, clothes, cars, and other iconic imagery of that era, I can't help but think the characters are probably enjoying tuna noodle casserole on a regular basis.

Below the photo you'll see the written recipe for this retro-chic classic, which is going in the cookbook. I really love this recipe, and hope some of you give it a go and tell me what you think. Enjoy!

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, and sauté the onions over med-low heat for about 4 minutes, or until translucent. Turn up the heat to medium; add the flour, and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. While whisking vigorously, slowly pour in one cup of the cold milk.

When the mixture begins to simmer, add the rest of the milk, can of mushroom soup, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, and comes to a simmer. Remove from heat, and reserve.

Cook noodles in boiling salted water, one minute less than the directions call for. Drain well, and add to a large mixing bowl. Add the sauce, tuna, peas and about 2/3 of the cheese. Mix with a spatula to combine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour the mixture into a lightly oiled 9 x 13 casserole dish, and top with the rest of the cheese. Mix the breadcrumbs and olive oil together in a small bowl until combined. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole. Bake for 35 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.

I haven't made tuna casserole for years and this sounds really good. I'm going to make it tonight but it looks like the tuna cans are about 5 ounces now. I couldn't find a 7 ounce can anywhere. I guess they went the way of the corner drug store and the gas station where they cleaned your windshield and checked your oil. Hope the book does well Chef John! You've got a lot of followers these days and you do a great job! Thank you for all the great recipe videos.

OK, I'm ready to attempt the Tuna Casserole and while I realize this is a dumb question for a chef, in the spirit of there's no such thing as a stupid question, does it make any difference at all if I use all-purpose or self-rising flour? We have self-rising in the pantry for whatever reason.

Tuna noodle casserole is one of my faves, it's nice and cold here so I need to make it soon. I use shallots, and gorgonzola for the cheese. Been too busy with a new job to visit your site, it's good to be back.

In many of your recipes you're using this Jack Cheese. Now, in UK it's hard to find. Sainsbury's Supermarket stock it, sometimes, but it's not easy to come by. I'd like to ask you what cheese would be the best substitute for it, in your opinion. I googled this and got some various opinions from "red cheddar" to "gouda" but I'd love to hear what you say.

I made this dish tonight, made a couple of changes I used mixed vegetables instead of just peas and a can of cheddar cheese soup instead of cream of mushroom and I used 2 cans of chunk chicken instead of tuna......not fond of hot tuna....the good news is it was great!....the bad news is my kitchen burned to the ground!

Oh boy. I just made a double batch of this to scale with the size of my mushroom soup can; going to be eating it for a WEEK! I'm in college, so I've had to compromise a lot of the ingredients (All cheddar, no peas, flavored breadcrumbs, used just plain ramen instead of "Egg noodles" since I figured they were close enough) Still good!

I love this recipe too, Chef. Great comfort food. The only thing that I did differently was add a few more peas and some sliced pimento for color. I bet this would be good with chicken too and maybe some diced cooked carrots.

It was just cool enough today to fire-up the oven and make this again. It's so much better than the tuna casserole I enjoyed as a kid. Today, I used whole wheat noodles (Ronzoni brand) and, to my surprise, it was just as good.

i once made this, maybe a year and a half ago, and my boyfriend loved it - he doesn't eat much seafood. but this one is really a go-to! making it for lunch (i'll take some with me since i have to go to work in an hour), but this is such an easy, actually pretty quick dish... love it! thank you so much for all your recipes, my friends and family think i'm a really good cook, and you are a big part of the reason why! <3

I ordered your cookbook off Amazon a few days ago--I am seriously wanting it to arrive so bad! I love love love your site (as you may know by now since I have told you a few times lol) and wanted to do something supportive, so I bought it. I am excited right now, tho--because I want to see this recipe in the book! ;) <3 Ya Chef! Keep on being awesome!

I am making this today for I think the forth time! That's how much I love this recipe! I add a bit more bread crumbs cause I love them and I actually divide it into two smaller dishes and freeze one (we're only 2 adults and 2 toddlers so a half recipe feeds us perfectly). FYI: this freezes really well! I just thaw it in the fridge for a day or so and then throw it in the oven and bake it for about 40-45 minutes. This one's a keeper!!

I'm having a Mad Men going away party tonight and needed a retro dinner. The description of this recipe included Mad Men so I know it's going to be great. I'm going to add fresh dill which really enhances tuna dishes.